Tattooed Upon My Heart
by Marina SeaCrest
Summary: Based upon 659 from HP-Headcanons on Tumblr. Unedited, freewriting oneshot. Fluff. Scorose. Rated T for swearing.


**Title:** Tattooed Upon My Heart

 **Rating:** T

 **Notes:** This is based upon Headcanon #659 from HP-Headcanon on tumblr, submitted by vvoez:

"Rose moved to America after studying at Hogwarts. She finds herself in a relationship and finally brings her boyfriend of two years home to meet the entire clan on Christmas. Once home, she introduces him to her childhood best friend Scorpius. He sees a rose tattooed on Scorpius' wrist and doesn't talk to Rose for the rest of the day because he finally understands what the scorpion on Rose's back means."

It was written with no specific plot in mind except for the headcanon, and has not been proofread. I apologize for any mistakes or inconsistencies.

 **Disclaimer:** "Harry Potter" is the intellectual property of J.K. Rowling  & Warner Bros. This is written as fanfiction and is not intended as copyright infringement.

* * *

"Strawberry."

"Butter pecan."

" _Strawberry_."

" _Butter pecan_."

"You two do realize you don't have to get the same thing, right?" the middle aged witch behind the ice cream counter at Honeyduke's asked, eyeing the queue behind them pointedly. "Why don't you each get one and move on?"

Rose looked at Scorpius. Scorpius looked at Rose.

"We'll get one with a scoop of each, please," Scor announced, placing four sickles on the counter as Rose rummaged in her pockets, coming up with a handful of coins.

"Hey!" she yelped as she spotted the four silver coins on the sticky wooden counter. "Scor—"

"You can pay next time," he told her loftily as he took the cone from the witch behind the counter and turned to walk away. She scurried after him, glaring daggers at his back.

"I'm not a freeloader, Scorpius!" she snapped.

He bit into the ice cream, something that always made her wince. How could he _bite_ his _ice cream_? It was unnatural. "You're not," he agreed, raising an eyebrow. "Your point?"

"You need to stop doing that," she hissed, even as she accepted the cone from him. "Or your grandfather really _will_ disown you."

Scorpius shrugged. "You're my best friend."

Rose laughed. "Oh I'm sure he would be glad to hear that." Her voice was bitter.

"There you guys are!" Albus hurried up to them, a bag full of licorice wands in his hands. He linked his arms through theirs, ignoring the tension in the air. He knew what it was; Lucius Malfoy did not approve of his grandson's friendship with the Potter and Weasley children, especially not Rose. She was first a Weasley, and worse, a _girl_. Lucius's greatest fear was that Rose Weasley (and, mind you, they were _twelve_ ) would seduce the heir to the Malfoy name and put an end to their proud pureblood heritage.

There wasn't much they could do about that. What would happen would happen, Albus always said.

* * *

"I dare you."

"That isn't fair!"

"Chicken."

"I never said I wasn't going to do it."

"Bawk bawk bawk!"

Rose stood up, eyes flashing with fire as she met Scorpius's silver gaze. "You're on, Malfoy," she declared.

He smirked. "Excellent."

* * *

"Did you do it?"

"You'll have to wait and see."

"God, Malfoy, what did you convince her to do this time?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes at Albus, who had overheard their conversation. "Nothing, Albus. Nothing at all."

Rose smirked at her cousin, and Albus recognized the expression. It was Scorpius's smirk, on Rose's face. "You'll have to wait and see, too."

* * *

"Was it worth it?"

"To see your face? And McGonagall's? Definitely."

"This is gross."

"It's your fault."

"I know. Pass me that jar over there."

"Are these pickled warthog tails? _Ew_."

"It's detention, Rose. Did you really think after that stunt, McGonagall would let you off easy?" Scorpius rubbed the end of his nose on the back of his wrist.

She snorted. "The best part is that she _knew_ you were involved."

"Shut up."

* * *

"You…you clean up nice." Scorp swallowed.

Rose flushed, looking away. "You, too. Both of you," she added, meeting her cousin's amused gaze and telling him with a look to knock it off. Or at the very least, not say a word. He'd been needling them all year, causing red cheeks and hurried goodbyes as both Scorpius and Rose tried to avoid meeting each other's eyes when Albus insinuated that they were a _couple_.

"Shall we?" Albus asked sweetly, offering his cousin his arm. Rose missed it, but Albus caught the flash of jealousy in Scorpius's eyes as Rose tucked her hand around his elbow, and he smiled. Albus Severus Potter did not smirk, he always maintained. He smiled. Maliciously.

Scorp narrowed his eyes at his friend. He knew exactly what Albus was thinking, and why he had done it.

* * *

"I'll kill him!"

"No! You'll get in trouble!"

"You can't expect me to just walk away, Rose! That bastard hurt you!" Scorpius snarled, although he allowed her to drag him back down onto the sofa of the Slytherin common room. Nobody questioned the Gryffindor's presence here anymore, not after six years. She thought they'd just gotten used to her, but Albus knew better. Anyone who said a word was faced with Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.

"Just let it be," Rose pleaded, tears streaking her face. "He's not worth it."

"He can't just fuck with you like this," Scorpius snapped, his face red. There was nothing shy or reclusive about him now. When it came to Rose Weasley and Albus Potter, the Malfoy heir was anything _but_ reclusive. They brought out the courage in him. "Cheating on you with your own roommate—"

"Please, Scor, just drop it," Rose begged. "You can't get into trouble because of me!"

Albus arrived with a tray of hot tea, cake, and an enormous tub of strawberry ice cream. Three bowls, three spoons, and a three mugs. "Here," he said, sliding the ice cream over to Rose. It was Scorpius who reached out and picked it up, plunking it into her lap.

"Eat," he demanded, handing her a spoon.

"Scor, I'm not going to eat this whole bucket by myself," she protested.

"Yes, you are," he asserted. "You are going to eat that ice cream while I go and hex Connor McLaggen into the next century."

"Scorp, no!" she protested as he stood, leaping from her position on the couch and wrapping herself around him, impeding his movements. "You can't!"

"You stay here," Albus said to Scorpius, meeting his roommate's eyes. Whatever he saw there made Scorp nod slowly and sit back down, pulling Rose up to sit in his lap. As Albus left, Scorpius opened the bucket of ice cream and offered one of the spoons to Rose, picking up another one for himself.

"You won't fight him?" she asked tearfully, looking up at him.

"You have my word," Scorpius relented. "Now eat your ice cream or it'll melt."

"We'll never finish this much ice cream."

"Then we'll give it our best shot."

"Okay."

* * *

" _Albus!_ "

"I didn't touch him."

"He _ran away from me_ in the hallway. What did you do to him?!" Rose shouted, reaching out to shake her cousin.

"I told him to stay far, far away from you," Albus answered calmly. "Or Scorp and I would make him wish he had never met you."

Rose snorted disgustedly. "Thanks. Thanks _so_ much."

"Rose, about Scorpius—"

" _No_." There was a note of finality in her voice. "Don't go there, Albus. Just don't."

"But—"

" _Albus_."

He backed off, knowing that tone. She had learned her Bat-Bogey Hex from his mother, her aunt, and he'd seen it in action more than once.

* * *

"I can't believe you two got drunk."

"I can't believe I got a TATTOO," Rose shrieked. "WHY DID YOU LET US DO THIS?"

"I wasn't there," Albus pointed out. " _I_ was behaving my underaged self and studying last night."

"Mum's going to kill me," Rose groaned.

"At least yours is easily hidden," Scorpius groused, eyeing the rose on his wrist. "My parents are going to have a cow."

"I thought they didn't care about blood purity anymore."

"No, but tattoos are still not something a _Malfoy_ should have," Scorpius answered. It was a very pretty rose, he had to admit.

"Glamour charms?" Albus suggested.

Scorpius shrugged. "It won't fool my mum," he said, resigning himself to his fate. "She sees _everything_."

* * *

Albus waved goodbye as Rose placed her hand on the Portkey that would take her to the States. Scorpius stood by his side, his fists clenched as she disappeared.

"You're an idiot," Albus informed his friend as he let his arm drop.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Scorpius snapped, unconsciously running his fingers over the rose tattooed on his wrist.

"Admit it. You're in love with her," Albus pushed. He had always felt like a third wheel with them, no matter how much they included him. It had been clear to him from the start that Rose and Scorpius were Best Friends Forever, the real kind. No matter what happened, or didn't happen, between them, they would always be friends first. If it came down to choosing between each other or himself, Albus, he knew they would choose each other. He knew for a fact that they had kissed on New Year's Eve under the influence of firewhiskey and mistletoe, but they never talked about it because they didn't want to risk their friendship. He also knew for a fact that they were two of the most thickheaded people he knew.

"Of course I love her," Scorpius shot back scornfully. "She's my best friend."

"You're an idiot."

"Shut up, Albus."

"You must have noticed that she has never tried to hide that scorpion on her back. Not with glamor charms or makeup or anything. Hell, she wore a _backless dress_ to the Yule Ball last year."

"It doesn't mean anything," Scorpius insisted, although he covered the rose on his wrist with his other hand reflexively, as if to hide the fact that _he_ had never hidden his tattoo either. He'd gone home that winter break and his mother had all but fainted. His father had said nothing. His grandfather, on the other hand, had raged about the tattoo, his friendship with Rose, his enrollment at Hogwarts ("I told you should have sent him to Durmstrang!"), until Draco had put his foot down and reminded Lucius that _he_ was the head of the Malfoy family now.

"Scorp, you're going to lose her."

"What?" Scorpius stared at Albus.

"She's a loving person. She's going to find someone over there to love." He didn't need to remind Scorpius that Rose had had boyfriends before, including that wretched Connor McLaggen. "You'll lose your chance."

"I never had one," Scorpius snarled, his voice cracking. "Trust me. I've tried."

Albus was stunned. "What?" he managed.

Scorpius turned away. "I don't want to talk about it."

Albus watched his friend walk away, his shoulders slumped in dejection. What had happened? He had been so _sure_ …

* * *

"What does this mean?" Ryan asked, tracing the scorpion inked into Rose's skin with a feather-light touch.

He felt her tense up, and quirked an eyebrow at her. "It's just something I liked," she answered with a nonchalant shrug.

He knew she was lying, but he let it go. It was beautiful, and it had to be important to her somehow. If she wasn't comfortable telling him about it yet, he would wait.

* * *

"My friends and I got tattoos while we were drunk," she admitted finally, a year later. "We kept them because it was something we shared. A bond, if you will."

"You'll have to introduce me to these friends," he murmured, kissing the slope of her shoulder.

"One day."

* * *

"This is my cousin, Albus," Rose said. "Albus, Ryan."

"Pleasure to meet you," Ryan said with a smile, extending his hand.

"Likewise," Albus answered, shaking his cousin's boyfriend's hand firmly.

"And this is Scorpius," Rose said, and only Ryan didn't notice the tightening of the skin around her mouth, the slightly higher pitch to her voice, that indicated she was nervous.

Ryan again extended his hand, thinking _What a strange name!_ When the blond man's sleeve pulled up, revealing his wrist, however, Ryan froze.

A rose.

It was perfect in every detail, just larger than a galleon and shaded with subtle tones of red against Scorpius's pale skin.

Scorpius.

Ryan's face slammed shut, and although he shook Scorpius's hand, he took his leave immediately, leaving Rose behind. She blinked, staring after him in hurt and confusion.

"Ryan?" she called, but he was already gone. She turned to her friends. "Why did he…?"

"Rose, you're not stupid. Stop acting like it," Scorpius said harshly. "You have a symbol representing another man tattooed on your skin. Of course he's going to be upset."

"But he knew that already…" she protested. Then she bit her tongue. She'd never told him that her friends were _male_. "But you're my best friends. It doesn't mean anything."

Albus actually burst out laughing. "Rosie, you moron. _You_ have a scorpion, and Scorp has a rose. What _else_ is your boyfriend going to think?"

Rose blanched, turning wide eyes to Scorpius. "But—"

"You tell me, Rose," he said, flopping down onto the couch. He and Albus had been sharing a flat in Diagon Alley while Albus underwent Auror training and he did his apprenticeship with Ollivander. "You should go after him and explain."

"Scorp…" Rose sighed and sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder like she used to do at Hogwarts when it was late and they were all tired. Albus sat at the other end of the couch, sticking his feet under her bum to keep them warm. He always had cold feet, in the literal sense of the word. "Why did you never get rid of it?"

"Why didn't you?"

"You're both so much stupider than I gave you credit for," Albus commented dryly. "Do I need to go and get ice cream, Rose?"

"I'll talk to him," she sighed. But not yet. She didn't want to move quite yet. She'd missed them so much, even though coming to visit them had been much easier than if they were all muggles. But she'd been too busy to meet them for more than coffee from time to time, instead sending them letters by the dozen about her life in America.

"You'd better do it soon, Rose," Scorpius said, his voice gruff. "You don't want him making any rash decisions."

* * *

When Albus answered the doorbell, he turned around and called to Scorpius, "I need to go to the store. I'll be right back." He ushered Rose inside, placing her on the couch and wrapping her in a blanket before grabbing his cloak.

Scorpius came out of the bathroom, with only a towel wrapped around his waist. "What—" His gaze fell on Rose, whose face was crumpled up like a bad homework assignment. "Rose," he sighed.

"He broke up with me," she sobbed, stating the obvious.

He sat down on the couch, and she tucked herself against his side, heedless of his warm, slightly damp skin against her cheek or the fact that he was wearing only a towel. He rubbed her shoulder, wishing that Al would hurry up with that ice cream.

"What happened?" he asked gently.

She let out a shuddering breath, and then grabbed his arm, twisting it so she could look at his tattoo. "You guys were right," she mumbled. "He thought…he thinks…"

"That you and I are a thing?" Scorpius forced a chuckle. "Rose, if he's that dense, you're better off without him."

She shook her head. "Apparently, I mumble your name in my sleep."

His hand stilled. "What?"

"He thinks I have repressed feelings for you."

Scorpius was silent for a long moment. "Do you?"

"I don't know," Rose admitted in a whisper. "I don't know."

He swallowed. "You need to figure it out soon, Rose," he said quietly. She had flirted with him before, of course, but she flirted with everyone. It didn't mean anything. He had known that, the day he'd laid his cards out on the table for her and she'd laughed it off, that it didn't mean anything.

Albus arrived with the requisite tub of strawberry ice cream, ducking into the kitchen for three spoons before sitting down on the couch. "Scorp, don't you think you should put some clothes on?" he suggested pointedly.

"Don't go," Rose pleaded, sitting up just enough to grab Albus's arm and hug it to herself, pinning it awkwardly between herself and Scorpius's naked chest.

"Um. Rosie?" Albus hedged. "This is…not the most comfortable of positions…"

Scorpius pushed gently, somehow managing to get Rose to curl up against Al instead. "I'm going to get changed; I'll be right back," he promised, squeezing her hand.

"Okay," she said in a small voice.

"What happened?" Albus asked when Scorpius was gone.

She told him.

"And?" he prompted.

"I'm scared, Al. What if…what if…"

"What if he doesn't feel the same way?" He snorted. "Rose, you numbskull, Scorp's been in love with you since we were old enough to notice girls."

She sat bolt upright. " _What_?"

"He thought you weren't interested," Al informed her, his expression questioning.

"I…I thought he was joking or…or that it was a dare!" Rose cried. "I didn't—!"

"Are you sure you didn't _pretend_ because you weren't ready for it?" Albus pressed.

"I—"

* * *

She bunked over that night, taking Scorpius's bed at his insistence while he slept on the couch.

He lay there, wide awake, remembering the conversation he'd overheard between the cousins who happened to be two of his best friends.

Who was he kidding? Rose was his absolute _best_ friend. He felt bad, relegating Al to second place like that, but it was true. No wonder that moron Ryan had thought…

That way madness lies, Scorpius, he told himself. Where would they go from here? He'd never been the reason her boyfriends had broken up with her. Not until now. He'd been there to pick up the pieces, with Al, stuffing her with ice cream and watching horror movies until she was too exhausted to do anything but sleep. He'd taught the bastards lessons when they hurt her. But this had never happened before, and he didn't know how he felt about it.

* * *

"Scorp?" She appeared in the doorway, and he groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes wearily. He had _just_ started to fall asleep. "Can I…can I talk to you?"

"Sure," he answered automatically, drawing his legs off of the couch to let her sit down. She did so, looking straight ahead, or down, but not at him. "What's wrong? Don't tell me you're still crying over that thickhead from the States."

"Do you…do you think…that maybe he's right?" she asked tentatively.

"If I kiss you right now, will you push me away?" he asked by way of answer. His uncharacteristic boldness was rewarded by a choked sob of assent as she turned to look at him.

"You're an idiot, Rose Granger-Weasley," he murmured just before their mouths touched.

"So are you," she replied into his kiss.

He pulled away briefly. "Good."

* * *

"I told you so," Hermione said to Ron when Rose showed up at their door hand-in-hand with Scorpius Malfoy. "You're going to have to resign yourself to the fact that your daughter is going to be a Malfoy."

"Do you think she'll want to become Granger-Weasley-Malfoy?" Harry suggested, eyes dancing with mirth. While he didn't care much for the boy's parents, Scorpius himself had won Harry's approval long ago, the first time he had beat the stuffing out of one of the boys who had lifted Rose's skirt in the corridor during first year and gotten three months of detention. It was good to know that this apple fell further from the tree than they had predicted.

"Stop that," Hermione hissed just before she opened the door. "Rose! Scorpius! Welcome home!"

* * *

"Your mum is crazy."

Rose looked at him in confusion.

"She thought that this tattoo was to commemorate, um…our _first time_."

Rose's mouth dropped open. "She did _not_."

"She did," he confirmed, taking the opportunity to steal a kiss.

"Well it commemorates _something_ ," Rose mumbled.

"Yeah. Our joint stupidity," Scorp laughed.

"No," she answered with a radiant smile. "It commemorates the day I realized that you were my favorite thing, and I didn't mind that I had a tattoo of you on my back."

"I am not a scorpion."

"Semantics," she giggled.

"I sincerely hope you don't actually have a fascination with scorpions."

"Just you," she answered sweetly.

"Oi! Shut up!" Albus yelled from his room. "Go to bed!"

Rose and Scorpius looked at each other, and burst out laughing. "NO!" they yelled together, bursting into Albus's room and proceeding to have a good old-fashioned pillow fight.

Rose won.


End file.
